Parliamentary election in Georgia 2008

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Template: election chart / maintenance / notes
Remarks:
b Comparative value 2004: right-wing opposition

The 2008 parliamentary elections in Georgia took place on May 21, 2008. The party of the ruling President Mikheil Saakashvili won 119 of the 150 seats in parliament and thus a three-quarters majority in parliament .

Moving the election date forward

After massive protests by the opposition against President Saakashvili in November 2007, which led to the imposition of a state of emergency by the President, the latter declared himself ready to hold an early presidential election in January 2008. In the presidential election on January 6, 2008 , which Saakashvili won again, there were also two referendums: on the one hand, there was the question of whether the election date for the parliamentary elections from October 2008 should be brought forward to May 2008 and, on the other hand, the question of whether Georgia should seek membership in NATO . Both referendums were answered positively by more than 75% of voters. For this reason, the parliamentary elections took place on May 21, 2008.

The parties and coalitions, situation before the election

In the election, President Mikheil Saakashvili ENM's party competed against the United National Council , an opposition alliance made up of nine parties, led by Levan Gatchechiladze .

In April 2008 a profound rift was revealed in the ruling ENM party. Parliamentary President Nino Burjanadze and her supporters were ousted when the ENM candidate list was put together. In 2004 they were allowed to occupy 20 of the list places, in 2008 significantly fewer. Burjanadze then stopped running as a candidate for parliamentary elections and declared: "I have tried to put those new faces on the list of candidates who, in my opinion, would be really very useful for our country, who feel obliged to carry out further important reforms, new, more humane ones I am sure that without urgent and meaningful news it will be difficult in many ways to develop the country effectively. "

All of Georgia was called to vote. De facto, however, no votes or only very few votes could be cast in the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia , as these areas were not under the control of the Georgian central government. Also because of the renewed conflict over Abkhazia, the elections took place in a very tense mood. President Saakashvili called on his compatriots to show national unity in view of the country's urgent domestic and foreign policy problems. The course of the election was critically monitored by more than 500 international observers from various organizations who had traveled specially.

Irregularities during the election

On May 29, 2008, the Central Election Commission of Georgia announced that the election results in 27 polling stations were to be canceled, as serious irregularities had occurred there during the election. The election results in 12 other polling stations were declared invalid by a court order. 39 of the 3600 or so voting halls were therefore invalid.

Immediately after the election, international reactions

Before the first election forecasts became known, the opposition described the election results as manipulated and called for protests. According to opinion polls immediately after the election, the ENM won the election with a clear majority. Levan Gatchetschiladze announced that the opposition would be united in boycotting the newly elected parliament. Individual party leaders rejected this.

In initial reactions to the outcome of the election, various countries, including the spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office and EU Commissioner for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Javier Solana, welcomed the largely non-violent and largely non-violent election.

The official results

Distribution of seats in the newly elected Georgian parliament.

The Central Electoral Commission of Georgia announced the official final results on June 5th.
The turnout was 53.9% and 56,099 votes were invalid. A 5% blocking clause applied. Saakashvili's party won a majority of votes in 71 out of 75 constituencies. In the electoral districts of Zageri and Qasbegi ( Stepantsminda ), candidates from the Republican Party were successful, but with 3.8% they could not cross the 5 percent hurdle nationwide. Saakashvili’s party also received the most votes in 8 out of 10 constituencies in the capital Tbilisi , where around a quarter of all Georgians live. The 9-party opposition alliance was successful in two constituencies of Tbilisi (Wake and Didube). Compared to the national average, the opposition alliance in Tbilisi received significantly higher shares of the vote.

Parties and alliances with political leaders Votes % Constituency
mandates 		Seats %
United National Movement ( Micheil Saakaschwili )
ერთიანი ნაციონალური მოძრაობა 		1,050,237 59.18% 71 119 79.3%
Nine-party opposition alliance ( Levan
Gatchetschiladze ) გაერთიანებული ოპოზიცია (ეროვნული საბჭო, მემარჯვენეები) 		314,668 17.73% 2 17th 11.3%
Christian Democrats ( Giorgi Targamadze )
გიორგი თარგამაძე - ქრისტიან-დემოკრატები 		153,634 8.66% 0 6th 4.0%
Georgian Workers' Party ( Schalwa
Natelaschwili ) შალვა ნათელაშვილი - საქართველოს ლეიბორისტული პარტია 		132.092 7.44% 0 6th 4.0%
Republican Party of Georgia ( Dawit Ussupashvili )
საქართველოს რესპუბლიკური პარტია 		67,037 3.78% 2 2 1.3%

Elective block "Alliance for Law" მემარჯვენე ალიანსი, თოფაძე – მრეწველები (მ.გ.ს., ერთობა, ე.დ.პ.) 		15,839 0.93% 0 0 -
Christian-Democratic Alliance
ქრისტიანულ-დემოკრატიული ალიანსი (ქდა) 		15,852 0.89% 0 0 -
Political Citizens Union
ქართული პოლიტიკა 		8,231 0.46% 0 0 -
Electoral bloc Georgian traditionalists and women's party
ტრადიციონალისტები - ჩვენი საქართველო და ქალთა პარტია 		7,880 0.44% 0 0 -
Political Union of Georgian Athletes
საქართველოს სპორტსმენთა კავშირი 		3,308 0.19% 0 0 -
National Radical Democratic Party of All Georgia
სრულიად საქართველოს რადიკალ-დემოკრატთა ნაციონალური პარტია 		3,180 0.18% 0 0 -
Party "Our Georgia"
ჩვენი ქვეყანა 		2,101 0.12% 0 0 -
total 1,850,407 100.0% 75 150 100.0%

The voting shares according to constituencies

The following maps show the votes of the four largest parties in each constituency.

  • Saakashvili's United National Movement's share of the votes . Saakashvili's party achieved the highest percentage of votes in the southern (especially Samtskhe-Javakheti ) and central parts of the country, and the lowest in the capital Tbilisi.
  • > 30% -40% of the votes
  • > 40% -50% of the votes
  • > 50% –60% of the votes
  • > 60% -70% of the votes
  • > 70% -80% of the votes
  • > 80% –90% of the votes
  • > 90% of the votes
  • Share of votes of the nine-party opposition alliance under Levan Gatchetschiladze. The highest shares of votes for the opposition alliance were in Tbilisi and in the west of the country.
  • 0% –10% of the vote
  • > 10% –20% of the votes
  • > 20% –30% of the votes
  • > 30% -40% of the votes
  • > 40% -50% of the votes
  • Share of votes by the Labor Party under Shalva Natelashvili. The labor party has its main centers in Tbilisi and in the northeast ( Mtskheta-Mtianeti ) of the country.
  • 0% -5% of the vote
  • > 5% –10% of the votes
  • > 10% -15% of the votes
  • > 15% –20% of the votes
  • > 20% –25% of the votes
  • > 25% –30% of the votes
  • Share of votes of the Christian Democrats under Giorgi Targamadze . The Christian Democrats achieved the highest percentage of votes in the western parts of the country ( Imereti , Guria , Adjara ).
  • 0% -5% of the vote
  • > 5% –10% of the votes
  • > 10% -15% of the votes
  • > 15% –20% of the votes
  • > 20% –25% of the votes

After the election, the new parliament is constituted

On June 13, 2008, twelve elected opposition politicians, including Levan Gatchetschiladze, declared that they would not exercise their parliamentary mandates in protest against the irregularities in the election. Davit Gamkrelidze and Davit Saganelidze, elected in the Tbilisi constituencies of Vake and Didube, were among the 12 elected MPs, which is why by-elections have to be held in these constituencies during the year. Five other of the 17 elected members of the opposition alliance rejected this total opposition and said they would exercise their mandates. After talks with the ruling party, the Christian Democrats announced their intention to work constructively in the new parliament.

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Georgia to hold early elections, BBC News, Nov. 8, 2007
  2. ^ Plebiscites Election.ge . March 21, 2008
  3. ↑ Parliamentary Elections Set for May 21 . Election.ge . March 21, 2008
  4. ↑ Transitions online: An Iron Lady Exits, For Now ( Memento of August 28, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) of May 16, 2008.
  5. ↑ BBC.co.uk: Georgians vote amid high tension , accessed May 21, 2008.
  6. ↑ Election observers under closer observation Tagesschau, accessed on May 22, 2008
  7. ↑ 39 Polling Stations Annulled , Civil.ge, accessed May 31, 2008
  8. ↑ Parliamentary election in Georgia (tagesschau.de archive) Tagesschau, accessed on May 21, 2008
  9. ↑ Georgian poll 'result' disputed BBC, accessed May 21, 2008
  10. ↑ Chances for Unanimous Opposition Boycott Shrink , Civil.ge, accessed May 23, 2008
  11. ^ First International Reaction on Georgia's Polls , Civil.ge, accessed May 23, 2008
  12. ^ Germany Hails Georgian Polls , Civil.ge, accessed May 23, 2008
  13. ↑ Solana Hail's 'Peaceful Conduct' of Polls , Civil.ge, accessed May 24, 2008
  14. ↑ Central Electoral Commission of Georgia (PDF file; 300 kB), accessed on June 6, 2008
  15. ↑ CEC Releases Final Vote Tally Civil.ge, accessed June 7, 2008
  16. ↑ Interactive voting card . Civil.ge, accessed May 24, 2008
  17. ↑ Opposition Leaders Move to Renounce MP Mandates , Civil.ge, message dated June 13, 2008, accessed May 13, 2008
  18. ^ Ruling Party, Christian-Democrats Reach Agreement , Civil.ge, news from Jun 12, 2008, accessed May 13, 2008